On those days where I wonder why I do this:

Liquid Gold

This.  This is why.  Well, that and the fact that bees are freaking fascinating.  The total ended up being just shy of 4.5 gallons or 26 pints (I'd already sold two by the time this photo was taken).  Estimating 1.5 lbs per pint, that's 42 lbs.  Not too shabby off of one hive.  According to the USDA, the average yield per hive in my area was 47 lbs in 2015 and 52 lbs in 2016, so I'm not too far off of average.  Especially considering that they still have six frames that they may or may not finish, so there may be a small second harvest in the fall, depending on what the summer brings.

Fragile? It must be Italian.

Nope, no ugly leg lamp here.

Not exactly.  While the Italians do make some excellent extractors, I went with the Maxant.  You may also see that I choose the 2 frame version.   There were a couple of reasons for this.   The first is obviously cost.   The 2-frame version is about $100 cheaper than the 4-frame version. Interestingly enough, it turns out that the 2-frame extractor plus the 6/9-frame basket is the same price as buying the 6/9-frame version outright.   You'll pay a bit more in shipping in the long run if you can't get it locally,  but it's worth it to me to spread the cost out a bit.  The bee gear fund is a little low right now.  And by a bit low, I mean in the red.  I don't foresee needing to spin deep frames and I really only have two hives that are going to produce any measurable surplus of honey this year,  so this fits my needs for this year.  Now the hard part is going to be waiting the two or three weeks until harvest time to play with my new toy.

All in all, I can't say enough good things about Rossman Apiaries in Georgia.  It turns out that they are the closest Maxant dealer that I could find, which means lower shipping cost and faster delivery.  They also had them in stock, which is a plus.  The Maxant website was showing three week delivery time, but Rossman had it to me in three days.  Granted, I didn't need it right away, but it's nice to know who delivers quickly in case of emergency.  

Choosing the Right Extractor

It's that time of year where thoughts turn towards honey harvesting.  Last year we only had one hive that produced a surplus, so we opted to to the crush-and-strain thing.  It was messy.  And sticky.  My kitchen floor felt like a movie theater floor.  It also seems wasteful to me to destroy all that perfectly good drawn comb.  So, this year we are considering purchasing an extractor.

A good piece of advice that I've heard is that when you purchase an extractor, you should keep in mind where you plan on being in 2-3 years, not necessarily where you are now.  If you plan on expanding the number of hives you have then it might make sense to buy something a little bigger than you currently need instead of buying twice.

One drawback to buying a bigger piece of equipment than you need is obviously going to be cost.  If you don't want to (or can't) spend the money up front then maybe consider something that can be upgraded down the line.  A handcrank model is going to be cheaper than a motorized unit, but there are several models with a conversion kit.  Some models even allow you to upgrade to additional inner components to hold additional frames.  It's going to be more expensive in the long run, but cheaper than buying two or three different extractors over the course of a few years.  

Something else to consider is whether the extractor is radial or tangential.  Radial means that the frames are positioned like bicycle spokes and the honey is slung from both sides of the frame at once.  In a tangential setup, frames are positioned so that one side faces the side of the canister and honey is only slung out of that side.  There are pros and cons to each style.  A tangential frame has to be pulled out and reversed, sometimes twice during the course of an extraction.  For example, you'd start spinning the basket and spin about half the honey on one side out.  Then reverse them and spin the honey out of the other side.  Then reverse again to get the last of the honey out of the first side (doing it this way prevents blowouts).  Radial baskets on the other hand don't have to be reversed, but it's not necessarily as effective as a tangential setup.  You end up with wetter frames and less extracted honey at the end of the day.  

I'm currently considering something in the Maxant 3100 series right now.  This series allows you to upgrade from a 2-frame setup to a 4-frame setup to a 6/9-frame setup by just switching out the inner basket.  The 2- and 4-frame options are radial (which is somewhat uncommon in those sizes) and the 6/9 can hold 6 medium and/or shallow frames radially and 3 more frames of any size tangentially.  

Right now, the plan is to buy either the 2- or 4-frame version and upgrade to the 6/9-frame basket when needed.  The two-frame does not accommodate deep frames, which isn't exactly a dealbreaker right now.  The 4-frame can hold a deep frame, which would be nice if you have a hive that becomes honeybound, but it is an extra $100.  If I'm going to upgrade to the 6/9-frame anyway it would be more expensive in the long run to get that bigger initial basket.  Since I have minion labor available, I can hold off on the motor kit for now.